A Grade Acting
by Very Sincerely Yours
Summary: Beck's staring in A Grade's end of year performance and is thoroughly exhausted because of it, Jade's trying not to be worried for him, even though she is, André's roped into helping Robbie save Rex from the scariest teacher in school Tori needs some help, Cat's spinning and they're all leads in Sikowitz's new play the Monday after next. Tired yet? hurt!beck, Bade, set end season 2
1. Disturbing Behavior

Well... hello.

So, this is basically a type of added episode, although it focuses mainly on Beck and Jade rather than Tori and the others.

The story also supports a form of in text referencing. Whenever a (*) is seen in a paragraph, directly under said paragraph some information (mostly vaguely humorous and relating more to the story rather than any outside sources) is written. If you find that you don't appreciate them, feel free to skip it over but please do not complain to me. I understand why it many not be liked (it certainly disrupts the flow, I know) but I've read quite a few books using the same technique and even though I've had to do a bit of backtracking with them I was fine with it as a whole.

Whether or not you like it is not my concern, although any constructive comments regarding this particular style are welcome along with any other form of justified criticism.

There's a tiny bit of course language here, as well as Jade (which really deserves a warning in itself) but its all basically the usual Victorious stuff. I've done my best to lay this out like one of the episodes, and I'm pretty sure there aren't any major spoilers.

Read at your leisure,

Very Sincerely Yours.

**A Grade Acting***

_(*A Grade Acting being an advanced class that runs for the second semester of every year at Hollywood Arts High and is almost impossible to get into. (a student must be put forward by three other members of the staff as a candidate and is chosen after auditioning multiple times) It is, as it's title suggests, one of the more advanced classes although isn't aimed specifically at seniors.)_

**Hollywood Arts High-school**

**Chapter 1- Disturbing Behavior**

When Tori, André and Robbie walked into Sikowitz's classroom Thursday morning, without Cat who was busy preparing costumes for A Grade Acting's mid year performance, they would all admit that yes, they were a little late. _(A little, in this case, meaning a whole awful lot.)_ They were surprised, however, and I suppose it would have been their own fault for if they'd been on time they'd have known what on earth was going on, to find that half the class was missing, leaving only Beck, Jade, a few other students whom the group didn't know and Sikowitz himself sitting in a circle on the floor. The three teenagers moved quietly inside, catching their teacher glancing up at them as he finished a passage from one of Oscar Wilde's famous plays, and sat next to Beck, who was lying down with his head on Jade's lap, the latter glaring daggers at Tori as she settled beside them without saying a word. Robbie and André had the sense to look sheepish, both in response to them being the focus of Sikowitz's sudden attention and Jade's less than savory look of pure loathing, while Tori was too busy wondering if Beck was really asleep or if her eyes were deceiving her as they so often did.

Said eyes snapped back to their teacher as he addressed his rouge students.

"Well, well, well, what have we here?"

"We're really sorry Sikowitz," André began, doing his best to move past their late entrance before Sikowitz decided to punish them for it. Before he could continue Robbie cut in, his voice considerably louder than André's, and far more panicked as well.

"Yes, we really are! We had to bring Cat some of her books because she's been upstairs all morning fixing up costumes for A Grade's performance next Friday and she got André to try on this Captain's costume to see if the trim was right and then Tori accidentally broke one of the sewing machines and Rex kept hitting on all the other girls including Mrs Cox, the teacher, and then we were all kicked out and she took Rex and refused to give him back!* But we left our stuff in there and we had to convince Mrs Cox to let us back in and then"-

_(*This was something Rex was not at all happy about, although after Robbie's promise that he would be collected after school that very afternoon he grudgingly accepted, realizing that he may very well be left in a room full of cute young sewing students who would not worry about him watching them for as long as he liked...)_

Robbie, who's voice had been rising further in volume as he continued, was then cut off by what could only be described as the most petrifying facial expression ever expressed in the history of human kind _(which includes the faces of psychotic puppets in R rated horror films)_ twisting the features of none other that Jade West _(because really, who else could do something like that?)_ and the amateur ventriloquist effectively shut his mouth.

Although, when you think about it, Jade probably got that expression from an R rated horror movie about a psychotic puppet and then adapted it further to her own specifications, therefore leaving the human race with no hope against the finished product which twists her features and scares her classmates shitless.*

_(*...oh well.)_

The rest of the room stood frozen as Jade's expression melted and she turned her attention on her boyfriend, who was indeed slumbering although had seemingly grown agitated at Robbie's loud, whiny voice, and used black-nailed fingers to gently card through his fluffy hair, effectively soothing Beck and allowing him to sleep peacefully once more.

The rest of the room would all most definitely agree that is was both the sweetest and scariest thing they had ever, and probably would ever witness, in their entire lives.

"Well," Sikowitz continued, choosing to deal with the five delinquent students later and get on to more pressing news sooner, before he forgot or his mother rang him again* demanding something vaguely embarrassing and awfully demeaning.

_(*Referring to the phone calls which had occurred at least thrice that morning, first because she'd lost her yellow handbag and expected him to know where it was, then because it was raining outside and finally something about a stray dog with pink mittens, although he'd hung up long before that conversation could come to any form of suitable climax.)_

"Because of _A Grade's_* end of year performance, majority of this class is setting up for their first dress rehearsal* this after noon, all the stage tech and consume students I mean, but the fact still remains that I don't have enough material with which to grade you this year, and so we will be putting on another performance the Monday after next so that your final scores will adequately reflect your skills."

_(*This title was said with disdain, both because Sikowitz was envious of the other class' influence and position above his own, even though he was sure his group of misfits could compete with them, and also because, even if they couldn't compete, he should be head of the better class like he deserved instead of the idiot Nottle, who taught A Grade and had long been at war with Sikowitz himself after an incident with a bicycle, a water pump and a fake banana. ...yeah, don't ask.)_

_(*And why they needed a dress rehearsal so soon, Sikowitz wasn't sure.)_

There was a chorus of loud groans, all of which quickly silenced by Jade in the same fashion as before, and Beck continued to slumber peacefully under the vicious protection of his lovably demented girlfriend.

"Sikowitz..." Tori continued, her voice soft so as not to enrage Jade further. "What'll be be performing? You haven't made us study any particular play for over a month."

Sikowitz visibly stiffened, '_umm_-'ing and '_arr_'-ing in sheepish apprehension.

"I'm not quite...sure."

There was a chorus of raised eyebrows although not so much as a loud, questioning intake of air thanks to Jade's threatening presence*.

_(*Sikowitz half considered bribing Jade for her skills in shutting her classmates up in the future.)_

"Yes, well, I'll come up with something I'm sure," their teacher continued, "although all the plays that spring to mind have been performed some time or another... I might write my own, it's been a while since I've put my own ideas on stage after all..."

Sikowitz drifted off into a nostalgic daze, eyes bright as he left all his students looking curiously at him and worriedly at each other, wondering whether their teacher was seriously in need of help of just being weird again. Before Tori could address him the bell chimed and Sikowitz snapped to the present.

"Jade, Beck, André, Robbie, Tori, you guys need to stay back a while, the rest of you get out before I kick you out!"

The five or six other students hurriedly stood, all freezing suddenly as Jade's glare caught them again, and then continued to slowly and quietly scuffle out of the room. When the five teenagers were left alone with their teacher, Tori decided to address the obvious question and turned to Jade.

"What exactly"-

She was glared at, and continued in a whisper.

"...what exactly is wrong with Beck? Has he been sleeping this entire time?"

Jade's glare only grew in intensity but before she could open her mouth Cat burst through the door, shouting loudly in greeting and startling Beck awake. Jade jumped to her feet, ready to bite her red-headed friend's head clean off, and both Robbie and André _(along with Mr Sikowitz, who was most definitely _not_ on the verge of wetting himself)_ stepped backwards, not even planning on protecting Cat from an enraged Jade. Tori only had a little more confidence, _(not nearly enough, she thought, to step between an oblivious victim and a demented, gothic, ruthless beast) _but thankfully was relieved of any potential duties by Beck who, although still half asleep, mumbled his girlfriend's name groggily, effectively startling Jade out of her thoughts*.

_(*Jade's thoughts, at this time, being nothing more than murder, maim and destroy.)_

"Uggnnn...Jade...?"

Beck rolled over onto his hands and knees, shaking his head free of some of its fogginess with a wince, and blinked up blearily at the rest of the room. He was visibly pale, more so than when he'd been asleep, and his eyes seemed close to bloodshot as he flinched back from the light.

Jade unceremoniously flashed* to his side and placed steadying hands on his back, drawing him up gently and asking if he was okay. He responded with a groan and a muffled, _'fine, I'm fine'_ to which she hastily stepped back and replied, _'good, cuz I wasn't worried'._ He chucked and rubbed his eyes, smiling fondly at his girlfriend's antics.

_(*Flashing is obviously not Jade's primary means of transport, but considering this was Beck and she was having trouble hiding her lack of what the others thought of as 'unsavory', 'rude' or down right 'frightening' emotion, flash seemed to be the right verb to use. She would deny this flashing and the reasons behind it afterwards of course, the reasons most definitely being absurd amounts of worry, concern and most definitely crippling fear, instead saying something about blood and worms crawling through Beck's abnormally fluffy hair and the rest of them would shut up and not press their line of questioning further.)_

"How long have I slept?"

"Funny you should ask, Mr Oliver," Sikowitz said loudly, lifting his nose into the air in the way that only drama teachers could manage. "It would seem that you've missed my entire lesson, what do you propose I do about that?"

Beck's eyes were incredibly wide by this point, his forehead screwed up as if he were both suffering from a headache and struggling to grasp what he'd just been informed. Jade saw this and turned on Sikowitz, her expression keeping him silent as Beck rose shakily with André's help. He stumbled and Jade stepped forward to support him, watching as he wiped his eyes and yawned loudly, leaning into her hand as she brushed back his hair.

Mr Sikowitz suddenly brightened, inspired by the display he was witnessing, his face pulled up into a wide grin. Tori and Robbie glanced at each other before the latter timidly questioned their teacher's change in demeanor.

Cat was too busy enthralled with a pretty bird sitting on the window pane to take part in any sequence of events.

"I've got it! I know what we'll do!" Mr Sikowitz exclaimed, grasping Tori and Robbie's shoulders tightly and laughing at his own success. After a few seconds without further explanation, Tori butt in with a vaguely harsh, _'care to elaborate?' _and Sikowitz let go of them, startled, before grinning again and practically bounding onto their classroom stage.

André moved to bring Cat away from the window and over to Tori and Robbie, while Jade continued to watch (_fuss_*) over her boyfriend.

_(*Again, such actions will forever be denied.)_

"I've been inspired!" Sikowitz began, waving his arms around as intense passion overwhelmed his thoughts. Beck and Jade joined the group who stood, in a line, in front of their possibly insane* teacher, the former still groggy and seriously questioning his eye sight if Sikowitz's grin was anything to go by.

_(*Possibly insane meaning most definitely insane, although all of his students are completely sure that his class wouldn't be the same if he was normal. The nature of the difference, however, does not need to be elaborated on...)_

"I'll write my own play and you six will star in it to make up for your awful behavior today. Beck and Jade will have the leads this time, your actions this morning have given me the greatest idea!" After making a noise that they could only assume was in happiness, Sikowitz began to spin around in circles and was quickly joined by Cat, who didn't want to miss out on the fun.

"Uh, actions? _Jade_, what actions?"

Jade's eyes narrowed as she continued eyeing her spinning teacher. She spoke slowly, without turning to face Beck, her arms still crossed over her chest and her fists clenching.

"_I don't know_."

"Well, guys, it was nice to be apart of this little breakfast club," André said with fake cheeriness, beginning to back out of the room, "but I have to meet my songwriting teacher at break, which is now, so I'll see you all later!"

There was a chorus of _'bye's_, _'later's_, _'yeah, sure's_ and one _'don't care'_ before Robbie mumbled something along the same lines and fled along with him. Tori immediately turned to Beck, repeating her earlier question.

"Oh, yeah, sleeping...umm..."

"He's been wearing himself out," Jade cut in, letting Beck remain silent as Tori eyed them both curiously. "He's in A Grade this year and a lead in the performance, and he's been at school every night sorting out his lines."

"He can also hear you."

Jade turned on Beck with a scowl but bit her tongue when he yawned again, looking very much like a little kid*. Instead of yelling at him like she might have liked, she linked their arms and spoke with a little less venom that usual, something that was missed by an exhausted Beck but not by Tori, who was smiling at the sweeter side of Jade that she, nor anyone else, _(save maybe Beck) _ever got to see.

_(*Although Jade commonly seeks pleasure in scaring younger humans until they wet their little pants or run, screaming, to their parents, let it here be said that Jade West was filled with humor and protectiveness whilst seeing her boyfriend looking as young as one of her innocent victims and, instead of inducing fear in his heart, although that seems to be quite impossible where Beck is concerned (Jade could never scare him...), seemed to want to look after and care for him like someone more compassionate would. Things are only impossible until they're not, after all...)_

"Come on, we'll ditch the rest of today and you can rest a while longer."

Beck looked at Jade with adorably groggy confusion, but was too tired to question her motives*.

_(*Motives which, as hard as it is to believe, were for once completely and utterly pure.)_

"Can't..." There was another yawn. "I've got...rehearsal...later..."

Beck seemed to be getting sleepier by the second and after catching Sikowitz's eye, which was quite a feat considering he was spinning around onstage, Jade took both of his hands in hers and let him to the stage steps.

"Then we'll stay in here until later and you can sleep until then."

Sikowitz, who had ceased spinning, nodded the affirmative at Jade's statement, mumbling something about the room being free all day _(it was _his_ room after all) _and busied himself gathering what he needed to move into the school theatre and begin writing his script, stumbling drunkenly from dizziness as he went.

Tori watched as Jade sat on the step and pulled Beck down until he was lying across it, his head once again resting on her thighs, eyes drooping tiredly as she moved her fingers through his hair in the same manner as before.

With a sigh and a soft smile, Tori turned to Cat, who was still spinning, and she crept up to the stage to stop her friend from moving. Before Cat could say anything she put a finger to her lips and pointed at Beck and Jade, indicating that they should be silent, and together they crept* silently out of the room.

_(*Cat's creeping was far more dramatic than Tori's, as you would expect when the former is in question. Sikowitz would be ever so proud.)_

As Tori closed the door behind her, noticing that Sikowitz had retreated out the window, _(again)_ she watched as Jade leant down and placed a small kiss on her slumbering boyfriend's forehead, who sighing contently and snuggled further into his human pillow.

The door closed, and Beck and Jade were left in peace.


	2. Reasons Why

Hello again.

First of all, this whole fic is set near the end of season 2. No sooner, no later, just _Right. There._ Good.

So this chapter basically has three parts. Robbie and André are in the first one, followed by Cat and Tori and finally I go back to Sikowitz's room to see Beck and Jade again, the latter probably a bit off character to most people but I like it so :P

And I'll get to Sikowitz and introduce Nottle in chapter 3 or 4, as well as bringing Jade and Mrs Cox together eventually... ;D

Again, any feedback is welcome, and if I'm doing anything very much wrong please tell me what it is and why. I'll try to explain myself or just change it, although there are some things (like my version of the showcase as opposed to the show's one) that are there for a reason.

Read at your leisure,

Very Sincerely Yours.

**A Grade Acting***

_(*A Grade Acting being an advanced class that runs for the second semester of every year at Hollywood Arts High and is almost impossible to get into. (a student must be put forward by three other members of the staff as a candidate and is chosen after auditioning multiple times) It is, as it's title suggests, one of the more advanced classes although isn't aimed specifically at seniors.)_

**Hollywood Arts High-school**

**Chapter 2- Reasons Why**

(In this chapter, time is going backwards.)

**Thursday afternoon...**

"André? André! André please, don't ignore me!"

It is safe to say, without taking Robbie's feelings into consideration, that André was in fact ignoring his socially awkward friend. He was doing it quite on purpose, engaging in random conversation with his peers_ (and teachers, although that soon became more than a little awkward...)_ just to avoid being caught out by Robbie and then have to do what Robbie would no doubt ask of him. They were mates after all, and André was obliged to help when help was needed. The task was far less than ideal however, and André would rather not be forced into any such situation if he could help it.

Robbie wanted Rex back.

That in itself seems simple enough, I suppose, but the problem was one quite large and immensely scary* costume design teacher named Mrs Ursula Cox, who was said to use her students as pin cushions and mannequins if they ever got on her bad side. She'd been at the school longer than anyone could remember. Even Mr Sikowitz, who was also openly afraid of the dubbed _'psycho seamstress'_, couldn't recall her first day despite his ten-year position at Hollywood Arts.

_(*Immensely scary meaning, quite literally, look at me the wrong way and I will make you shit yourself without so much as saying boo. Her power to induce fear in others was second only to Jade's, which is quite a scary realization in itself, for Jade is still developing her skills and yet surpasses someone of Mrs Cox's age, effectiveness and experience. These two have never met, mind you, and the rest of the school would happily keep it that way in case the world decided to explode when they finally crossed paths for the first time.)_

So it was safe to say that André had a fair and just reason* behind his behavior towards his _(so called)_ friend.

_(*Reason- he didn't want to die.)_

Robbie, however, was not so easily swayed, nor did he plan on giving up in his quest so soon. He'd just remembered, quite suddenly*, that Mrs Cox and the other stage coordinators helping with the rehearsals today and the rest of next week would all be in the theatre that afternoon, meaning that the sewing room would be locked all night and all through Friday as well, for there weren't any lessons in any of the economics rooms on the last day of the week. Mrs Cox didn't seem like the type of woman who would go out of her way to return an obnoxious, irritating and _(quite frankly)_ whorish doll to an awkward and equally irritating teenage boy.

_(*Quite suddenly in the middle of advanced stage tech, which may or may not have resulted in the accidental damaging of at least a thousand dollars worth of lighting appliances and expensive stage enhancing equipment, as well as Robbie's non-existent pride, image and self-esteem.)_

The fact still remained, Robbie didn't particularly want to be mauled by a savage puppet come Monday morning.*

_(*And really, could you blame him?)_

"André! Please, please just help me! Rehearsals start in a hour, Mrs Cox will start moving in around half that time, we need to go! Why won't you come? Why won't you do this for me? _André!_"

André, who had been walking down the main hallway at Hollywood Arts, finally turned to face his pursuer, his face a mask of irritation and exasperation. It wasn't that he didn't want to help Robbie, even though he was considering letting Jade loose on him right about now*, he just really, _(really) _didn't want to die.

_(*And yes, he would have held Beck back as well, leaving Robbie with absolutely no hope. It wasn't that Beck was particularly good friends with Robbie either, rather that he knew he was the only one who had any chance of calming Jade down even slightly and didn't want her to hurt herself, never mind her innocent victims. André was sure he could find some reason to get Jade to go predator on Robbie relatively easily; it was just Beck he needed to worry about, although in his current state Beck didn't seem able to put up much of a fight..._

_...André was also worried about how much thought he'd given this and decided to just shut up and face Robbie before his head got anymore... wonky.)_

"Why? _Why!?_ I'll tell you why, because I'm not going to risk becoming a pin cushion for a stupid toy doll!"

...vaguely harsh, but André thought Robbie needed to hear it.

_(Sorta.)_

Robbie stood in shocked silence for a few seconds, his face a crumpled mass of disheartenment, shock and betrayal, before turning and running away*, his worn sneakers squeaking as they rubbed against the Lino flooring. After a pregnant pause, André sighed loudly and followed him.

_(*And seriously, if that didn't make André feel like a grade A jack-ass, then nothing else ever stood a chance.)_

**(page break)**

**Thursday break.**

"Hey...Tori? Do you think... think Beck's gonna be okay?"

"Sure, why wouldn't he be?"

"Well..."

Tori watched Cat's face screw up in concentration and deep thought as she sipped at her soda, trying to focus on sorting through her music theory notes even as wind blew them all around the Asphalt Café. If she was honest*, Beck's behavior had been troubling her as well. He was usually the most energetic one, _(save Cat of course, although that was more of an insanely hyper energy while Beck's was just the usual kind) _and definitely not one to whine or even openly display weaknesses. The fact that he actually looked exhausted in public and slept _(in Jade's lap)_ in front of the entire class that morning was nothing short of worrying.

_(*Tori did make a habit of being honest to herself. And André... but mostly just herself. Most of the time.)_

Then there was Jade, openly showing concern.*

_(*which she did... on occasion.)_

"Well, he seemed _really_ tired," Cat continued, still deep in thought. "He's never _really_ tired, right?"

Tori sighed softly, catching another piece of paper as it flew out of her grasp. Yes, Cat was right*, very right, and that only made Tori worry more.

_(*Cat, although ridiculously oblivious, is also incredibly insightful. Now if only she'd use that insight to do something other than color tigers purple...)_

"I know, Cat, he's not...like he usually is."

"So, what are we gonna do?"

There were a few seconds of questioning silence, Cat looking at Tori hopefully, as if she could reveal the perfect answer to everything*. Tori was surprised at her obvious concern for Beck, and the bond there that she just realized she had been unaware of. She supposed that they all had some kind of bond, in their own ways, spanning across _murder, maim and destroy_ to _one true love_ territory. She'd have to work them all out sometime...

_(*the perfect answer to everything which, in this case, is not 42.)_

The point still stands, what where they going to do? And, as an extension of that, did they need to do anything?

_Yes, _Tori's mind supplied, _because it's Beck, who saves you from Jade and is nice to everyone. It's your friend._

_No,_ another, more pessimistic, part of Tori's mind chimed in, _because Jade's there with him already; she'll probably (definitely) get jealous if you help and then try to kill you with a pair of scissors._

"Umm... Tori?"

Tori snapped out of her head with a loud, unladylike '_huh?_' to find Cat tugging at her sleeve.

"What are we gonna do? We have to do something."

"Not... not really," Tori replied, giving up on the flying papers around her and closing her theory folder. "Jade's looking after him, he's in... _capable_... hands."

"Jade's doing one of her performances for the Hollywood Arts Semester Showcase*, just like you and André. She's not gonna be able to make sure he's okay _all_ the time..."

_(*The Hollywood Arts Semester Showcase is exactly what you'd expect, a showcasing of young talent hosted by Hollywood Arts twice a year, in which all students have to perform or contribute to a performance. It is also the night that A Grade use for their end of year performance, which usually ends up as the highlight of the evening. Unfortunately, it had completely skipped Tori's mind, and so she spent approximately forty three seconds gaping at Cat like a dead fish.)_

When she finally found her voice, Tori quietly exclaimed, "What are André and I doing!?"

"I don't know," Cat replied, sipping at a can of pink lemonade. "I don't know everything. My brother once said he knew everything, then I asked him what the capital of Australia was."

There were a few seconds of silence until it was clear that Cat wasn't planning on continuing without being prompted.

"...and?"

"Oh!" Cat continued, smiling widely before lowering and shaking her head seriously. "He doesn't know everything."

Tori's eyebrows rose, but she decided not to comment.

"Alright, what about you and Robbie, what are you doing for the Showcase?"

"I'm working on costumes and backdrops, and Robbie's doing some tech stuff for A Grade's performance. We're all gonna be really busy, and then we've also got Sikowitz's play for the Monday after next which we don't know anything about yet. What if Beck gets sick or something, because he's so tired? What if he hurts himself?"

"He won't, Cat..." Tori said with conviction, although as the words left her mouth a niggling feeling began to eat away at her stomach and she shifted uncomfortably. Cat didn't seem completely convinced either, fingering her can and tracing the metal table with her eyes.

Tori took a deep breath and steeled herself, deciding that it was best to take some action to ensure that none of their friends* succumbed to exhaustion, stress or ended up overworking themselves.

_(*and yes, this includes Jade, although watching out for her was more dangerous that checking a starved lion for fleas.)_

"Sunday, there aren't any preps then are there?"

Cat looked up, startled, before shaking her head, a small pout still marring her features.

"Then we'll all spend the day at mine. Watch a movie, eat some ice-cream..."

"Keep an eye on Beck!"

"Uh, yeah, that too," Tori mumbled, gathering her effects and pulling Cat to her feet. "Text Robbie and André, tell them to meet us in Sikowitz's room in ten minutes. We might as well all move over to the theatre together, and I need to talk to André about our performance..."

They began to move towards the main building, Cat practically bouncing along next to Tori, quickly texting their friends on her pear-phone as she went. Tori still struggled to hold on to all her books and thick folder, grunting as it almost slipped from her arms yet again.

"Lets hurry and get to Sikowitz's..." Tori groaned, stumbling down the hallway. "Before I drop all these papers on my feet."*

_(*which, because of the heaviness of Tori's burden, would not have been especially pleasant, although Jade would have been more than happy to witness (and record) it whenever and wherever, before instantly uploading the video to YouTube so she could send the link to everyone in the entire school.)_

"Kay kay," Cat replied, crying out happily as she skipped along beside her struggling friend, occasionally spinning around in circles with a large grin on her face. She moved without a care in the world, surging ahead even as Tori groaned loudly and shifted her books again.

"Oh, why are you so heavy?" Tori muttered*. "You should think about losing some weight..."

_(*and no, Tori didn't make a habit of talking to her school books, but there was always a first for everything._

_...Sikowitz would be so proud.)_

**(page break)**

**Thursday (around the middle of the day. ...probably a bit before.)**

"...Beck?"

There was no reply, only the continuation of the light snoring* that sounded below.

_(*Beck hated the fact that he snored although Jade, in her weaker moments, proclaimed it quite cute. She's probably just teasing him, but Beck can't help but wonder how often Jade watches him sleep... not that that's weird or anything.)_

"Beck."

This time it was said more sternly and part of the sound broke through his foggy, sleep-addled brain. She wants him to wake up. He needs to do what she says*, right?

_(*and no, this wasn't because Jade was a bossy, jealous gank. (even though she kinda was...) This is because she needs him and he needs to be there when she needs him because that's just what needs to happen. It is, as you'd expect, not so difficult a concept to grasp.)_

...no, wait... _what does he need to do?_

_"Beck."_

Okay, now she was becoming impatient. He should answer her. Yes... he should answer... now... _soon..._

"BECK!"

Beck woke with a start, jolting upwards and knocking his head against Jade's painfully hard elbow.* He laid back down with a groan, only to find that Jade had shifted and he wasn't so comfortable anymore. To try and remedy this, he started to turn over, his forehead a heavy weight on her straightened knee, and moved his hands under him.

_(*yes, painfully hard. If you don't believe me, whack your head against your own elbow sometime. What's that? You can't? Oh well...)_

It didn't improve his situation at all.

"Finally, get off."

"Huh?" Beck mumbled, awkwardly rolling down the two steps and onto the floor. He blinked open one of his eyes, the light making his throbbing head ache, and watched Jade stand and stretch above him. She caught his questioning glance and shrugged.

"My leg was falling asleep."

_Of course._

Beck would have asked what time it was _(despite the fact that he knew that Jade's answer would no doubt be _'I'm not your clock', _or at least something equally rude and sarcastic)_ but was really far too tired to form coherent speech. So instead, he simply grunted and rolled over, dozing off again even as his body protested against this new, less than comfortable position.

Jade turned her attention back to him with narrowed eyes.

"Do you need coffee?"

"Coffee would be nice," he mumbled back, his words muffled slightly by the floor he was pressing his face into.

"Then go get it."

"Maybe when I'm not dying of sleep deprivation."

"You were just sleeping then!"

"Yes, because a pounding headache and two stairs poking into your back are perfect for an adequate sleep!"

There was more near silence, Beck desperately trying to stop himself from groaning when his back started to cramp up painfully. Jade watched him like a hawk, completely aware of how awfully uncomfortable he must have been, his neck twisted strangely as his head was hidden in the floor. She was sure he was grimacing at the very least but couldn't actually see his face, making her wonder what he was hiding from her. There was something, she knew it.

_Yes, idiot,_ her brain supplied, seemingly having no quarrels about insulting itself. _Of course there's something. He's hurting._

She couldn't stop her jaw from clenching at the thought.

Just as Beck was slipping into an uneasy sleep again, he felt Jade kick his side and went to grunt automatically, only the sound that came out was more like the whimper of a kicked puppy*. He returned to groaning after that, both at his inability to hide his discomfort and because of said discomfort.

_(*and don't get me wrong, Jade liked kicking puppies (so long as they were annoying and not completely adorable, and it had to be when Beck wasn't around, or else he'd get upset and she'd feel bad and he'd ignore her for the rest of the week). Wait, yes, so Jade liked kicking puppies and the sounds they made as she did so, but the sound that escaped Beck made her want to cut up the whole world with her special scissors._

_...and she didn't really think that would be very good for her special scissors...)_

The next thing Beck knew, was Jade turning him onto his side and then his head was once again cushioned on her jean-clad thigh and even though the sudden movement made him nauseous he was far more comfortable than before. He thought he heard himself make another noise, possibly more of a contented whine, but was too tired to either keep track of his vocal cords or berate himself _(or both)_ and dismissed it without a second thought. _(Mainly because he was too tired to form a second thought, but oh well...) _Jade was less than pleased, however, and with a heavy sigh she shifted slightly, moving one of her hands soothingly across Beck's aching back and the other through his ridiculously fluffy hair*.

_(*this was mainly because she loved his hair and playing with it was her favorite past time, but she was doing it for him too. Yes, of course she was, he definitely liked it when she played with his hair...)_

Beck sighed again, feeling his aches dying down and sleep coming easily.

"Jade..."

"Shush!" she exclaimed, her movements never faltering. "Shut up and sleep. I'm kicking you off as soon as I start loosing feeling in my leg, understand? Man, I hate pins and needles."

Beck chuckled sleepily, and Jade thought it was probably the most adorable thing she'd ever heard.

"Night Jade," he yawned, eyes slowly closing.

"It's the middle of the day."

"_Mm-hmm_."

"You can't say night, the sun's still up!"

"The sun's," -_yawn_- "really bright..."

"Shut up and sleep before I make you sleep!"

There was a small pause and Jade* thought he'd finally succumbed to his exhaustion.

_(*and it was strange, because she also could have sworn that she felt just the slightest bit disappointed that the last words he heard were rude and Jade-like, but that would be vaguely corny so it mustn't be right at all.)_

She waited, and sure enough it was only a few seconds before Beck spoke again.

"...Jade?"

She wanted to sigh loudly or bite back with something harsh and sarcastic. She wanted to, she had to want to, she was supposed to want to; that was the way it worked.

_So then why didn't she?_

"Yeah Beck?"

"Love you."

Jade stopped and smiled.

Right.

_That's why._


End file.
